food allergies: the enemy within - european commission · san diego, 18-22 february 2010 – aaas...
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San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 1
Food Allergies: The Enemy Within
Krzysztof Maruszewski
European CommissionJoint Research CentreInstitute for Reference Materials and Measurements
http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 2
Allergen intake
Swelling of the skin
Food allergens: the mild effect
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 3
Food allergies: the severe effect
• Allergenic food can cause anaphylaxis, a life-threatening type of allergic reaction
• Severe anaphylaxis affects 1-3 per 10,000 people
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Food allergies vs. intolerance
• Allergy– IgE mediated– activate mast cells– release of histamine– dilation of small blood
vessels– Itching, swelling, skin
rash, diarrhoea
• Intolerance– not IgE mediated– may be caused by
overreacting T-cells damaging the lining of the gut (coeliacdisease)
– may be caused by deficiency of enzyme activity (milk intolerance
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 5
Regional prevalence in Europe
Peach and melon allergies in the Mediterranean
Fish allergies in Iceland
Celeriac allergies Switzerland
North-south divide in sensitivity towards apple (skin/flesh)
Source: EuroPrevall
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 6
Food allergens
• Only a few offending protein families:– Cupins (peanut, walnut, hazelnut)– Prolamins (sesame, peach, wheat, rye)– Plant defence system proteins (banana,
avocado, celery, apple)– Profilins (celery, banana, melon)
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 7
Food allergens: countermeasures
• At the moment no cure for food allergy• Allergic people have to protect themselves by
avoiding the offending foods• Critical importance of food labelling• Certified allergen-free production
environments
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Labelling
• informs consumers on the contents and the composition of food products
• helps consumers to make an informed choice while purchasing their foodstuffs
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Allergen detection methodology
Immunology, e.g. Elisa
Molecular biology, e.g. PCR
Protein chemistry
From fluorescence to results
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JRC - Reliability of test results
Poms et al. (2005)
Spiking level
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Pele et al. (2007)
0 20 40 60 80 100
"may contain"
"present inenvironment"
no warning
% testing positive
HazelnutPeanut
254 chocolatesamples
JRC - Market survey
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 12
Allergen labelling regulations
Buckwheat
EggMilkPeanutCereals containing gluten
Tree nuts
Crustaceans*FishSoybean
Sesame seedSulphites
CeleryMustardMolluscs*Lupin
Japan & South Korea
USA Canada,Australia,New Zealand
EU
Mandated by Codex Alimentarius
San Diego, 18-22 February 2010 – AAAS Annual Meeting 13
Labelling related to gluten
Codex Alimentarius– Dietary foods may be labelled “gluten-free” if gluten
level does not exceed 20 mg/kg– Foods specially processed to reduce gluten content to
above 20 mg/kg but below 100 mg/kg (labelling of those products will be decided at national level → in EU labelled as “very low gluten”, Regulation (EC) No 41/2009)
– Method of analysis will be based on immuno-chemistry• Gluten is a cultivar dependent complex protein
mixture• Processing (heating, fermentation) changes
apparent gluten content• Results assay specific
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Outlook
• Harmonisation needs– Analytical methods
• Screening• Confirmation
– Labelling– Precautionary labelling
• Thresholds for mandatory labelling• Allergen management programmes
Q-TOF MS/MSQ-TOF MS/MS